Engine mount



May 27, 1952 E. ZOERILEIN ET AL 2,598,632

ENGINE MOUNT Filed Sept. 26, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 E. J. LUOE.

4 w.c. VINCENT in JNVENTORS ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 27, 1952 ENGINE MOUNT Emillzoerlein, Dearborn, and-.William0. Vincent.

ndz'Edward. J3. Luce, Detroit, Mich .aSSigI OL' to Ford; Motor'Company;Dea-i'born, Mich, a

corporation (if-Delaware Application September 26, 1946, Serial No.699,542

2 Claims.

Thisapplication is concerned in general, with a means for quickly andaccurately securing one object to. another, and. more specifically witha meansfor securing an aircraft engine to the fuselage.

It is essential in aircraft work that the engine be secured to thefuselage accurately and rigidly and that the fastening means employed beproof against accidental loosening due either to defective attachment.vor vibration- The conventional method of attaching the aircraft engineto the fuselage has been by bolting with all of the nuts equipped with asafety wire to prevent loosening by vibration during operation. Toinsure the exact positioning of the engine in relationship to thefuselage it has been necessary to keep the clearance around thefastening bolts toa minimum. These necessary precautions consume muchtime and labor in changing engines in aircraft.

Particularly in combat service, it is a decided advantage to be able toremove a damaged or defective engine and install a replacement with aminimum of labor and as quickly as possible. However, speed cannot beachieved at the expense of an accurate, rigid and reliable mounting ofthe replacement engine on the fuselage. Applicants have devised thestructure described herein to enable a maintenance crew to install areplacement engine in an aircraft quickly and reliably and. with thehelp of only standard tools.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a means forquickly and accurately attaching an aircraft engine to the fuselage.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an airplane enginemount which is adjustable to compensate for inevitable irregularities inmanufacture.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an airplane enginemount in which the possibility of accidental release in service due todefective installation is reduced to a minimum.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thearrangement, construction and combination of the various parts of theimproved structure as described in the specification, claimed in theclaims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation, partially in section, of the assembled enginemount.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the assembled engine mount.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of applicants locking device in the lockedposition taken on the line 3--3 in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view" of applicants" locking device in the.unlocked positiontakerron:

the line 3--3 in Figure 2.

Turning to Figure 1', a stud. bolt I0 is providedto secure the enginemount to the aircraft:

engine. Threads II engage directly in'a suitably threaded opening irrthe engine. Stud bolt I8 is provided with a tapered conical head. 12%for a purpose which will become apparent as the description proceeds.The conical head I2 is preferably tapered at an angle offorty-fivedegrees. Before stud bolt I0 is threaded into the aircraftvengine, it is placed inside nut, I3. This nut I3. engages the shoulderI4 ontaperedhead I2. Nut: I3 is provided with a pair .of cams; one ofwhich isv shown at. I5.

Bolt I6 is employed to secure screw member H to the fuselage. Locatorpins I8 fix screw member I! in the correct position with respect to thefuselage. Bolt I6 coacts with nut I9 which rests upon shoulder 20 inscrew member IT. The motor end of screw member I! is threaded internallyto support adjustable bearing block 2|. The motor end of bearing block2I is provided with a conical section 22, also tapered at forty-fivedegrees and designed to receive and coact with conical tapered head I2of stud bolt IIl.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, saddle 23 is secured to screw member I! andhouses the locking apparatus used to make certain that accidentalrelease of the fastening is impossible. This locking apparatussimultaneously secures nut I3 and adjustable bearing block 2I againstrotation. Nut I3 is secured against rotation relative to screw member I!by tongue 24 which is spring urged into notch 25 cut in nut I3. Thelocking apparatus is actuated by knouli.

The actual structure of the locking apparatus is readily understood froma consideration of Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 is a cross section of thelocking apparatus taken on line 3--3 in Figure 2 and showing themechanism in the locked position. Figure 4 is similar to Figure 3,except that it shows the mechanism in the unlocked position.

In these figures, detent 21 is urged to the left by spring 28. Tongue 24is an extension of detent 2I. Detent 21 is moved against the tension ofspring 28 by knob 26. Locking pin 29 is urged upwards by spring 30 andcarries rounded head 3|. Rounded head 3I coacts with a similarly roundedsurface 32 on detent 21. This pin in the locked position projectsthrough aperture 33 in adjustable bearing block 2I.

To join the two sections of the engine mount,

nut I3 and its associated parts are brought into the proper relationshipwith screw member l1 and its associated parts. Nut I3 is rotated so thatcams l5 engage the threads in screw member l1. These cams and threadsare so formed that the initial relative rotation of nut 13 and screwmember l1 causes a relative axial motion of these two parts towards eachother. When the axial motion of the screw member l1 and nut I3 iscomplete and tapered head I2 is in snug contact with conical section 22,the cams l5 engage a plateau on the thread in screw member I I and somefarther rotation of nut I3 is possible without farther relativeaxialmovement of nut 13 and screw member I1. In this position alsotapered head l2 of stud bolt I0 should be in snug engagement with theconical section 22 of adjustable bearing block 2|. If this fit is notsuf-- ficiently snug, adjustable bearing block 2| is rotated throughslot 34 (Figure 1) until the desired fit is obtained. The detent 21 isnow allowed to move to the left until tongue 24 rests in notch 25thereby preventing any relative motion'of nut 13 and screw member I I.This movement of detent 21 forces locking pin 29 into opening 33inadjustable bearing block 2|, thereby securing this member againstaccidental rotation.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided aquick'acting engine mount permitting 7 rapid engine exchange. In thisstructure it is impossible to neglect to lock the adjustable bearingblock since such locking is a prerequisite to the locking of the mainnut. Unless the concealed lock on the adjustable bearing block is in theproper position, it is impossible to secure the visible lock.

While applicants structure has been particularly described withreference to the mounting of aircraft engines, it is obvious that it canreadily be adapted to any situation requiring quick and dependableattachment and detachment of two articles.

What is claimed is:

1. In an aircraft engine mount, a, fastening member adapted to besecured directly to the engine-and having a shoulder and a conicaltapered head the apex of which is directed away from the engine, a nutsurrounding the fastening member and coacting with the shoulder andhaving internal threads, an internally and externally threaded fuselagemember adapted to be secured to the aircraft fuselage, and an adjustablebearing block carried on the internal threads of the fuselage member andhaving a conical tapered face adapted to coact with the head of thefastening member.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the nut and the adjustablebearing block are each provided with individual locking means.

EMIL ZOERQLEIN. WILLIAM c. VINCENT. EDWARD J. LUCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7

